Session 3: Performance and the Street

Movement exercises:

Bamboo sticks revisited: We used the Bamboo sticks we had used in Week 2 again for a different and more complicated task. This time instead of only balancing the stick between the fingers of ourselves and a partner, we did so using different parts of the body such as chest, arms and hips. It was very difficult to balance the stick between these parts of the body however it did make me think about how I moved with different body parts. When using my hips I had to focus on my walk. I had to walk slowly but a steady pace in order for my partner to keep up with me and not drop the stick. When using chests myself and my partner had to find a balance where we weren't putting too much pressure on the other person and we could keep up a steady pace of walking around. The most challenging for me was using our hips because if my partner was not exactly the same height as me I found that one of us was standing up too tall or bending down too low to balance the stick. It was interesting to explore levels and movement at the same time

Ball exercise: We were given a tennis ball and had to place it in between ourselves and a partner using a particular body part. At first my partner and I held the ball between both of our arms. We then explored how we could move around each others bodies without dropping the ball. We then experimented with different parts of the body such as our legs, backs and chests. I found the movements to be very smooth and dance-like. We moved in what seemed like a choreographed way, twisting and turning around each others bodies backwards and forwards, high and low. I didn't give much thought to my actual movements. I simply moved instinctively, going where was feasibly possible for us to keep the ball in between us. Each partner I worked with had a different rhythm and style of moving. I was quite easily able to pick this up from each person and react to it by moving my own body. It was very interesting to work with other peoples bodies as well as my own to create a simple but effective performance piece.

Examples of existing work:

Desperate men: The Severn Project

This was a large-scale performance which was inspired by it's local community. It explored and celebrated it's cultures through movement, story-telling and audience participation. The aim of this performance was to bring a community together and to create unity through performance. I think the idea of using politicial and cultural messages in a performance is something I would like to consider in my own work because we will be focusing on Stratford as a city and a community.

Royale de Luxe

This was another large-scale performance that used puppets. It also looked at bringing communities together and creating unity through cultural and political messages. It was an extremely successful performance and although there was no speech involved, the movement of the puppets was interesting and powerful enough to captivate a large audience.

Reading: Mason, B (1992) ‘Street Theatre and Other Outdoor Performance’, London:Routledge

This reading talks about the emergence of street theatre and outdoor performances over recent years. Over the last fifteen years it has become much more widely accepted and popular. The end of the 1970's saw many arrests and charges due to begging or obstruction. The opening of the Pompidou Centre in Paris was a milestone in the future of street theatre in that it was a space designed specifically for this type of entertainment. Since then, the attraction of making an ordinary place such as a shopping centre, become more lively and colourful has become much more sought after.

Mason talks about how the existing popularity of street theatre has come from a "need" and a "role that needed to be fulfilled in society". I believe it is neccesary and will grow to be much more successful in the future. One of the strengths of this type of performance is that actors do not have lighting or elaborate staging to create an atmosphere. It is their job to create an atmosphere alone as an actor, and engage the audience. There is also no limitation to what they do, as they are not being restricted to a stage. This often results in better interaction with the audience.

There is also usually cultural or political messages conveyed in street theatre, as they are performed in communities rather than theatres. It seems much more "real" than a staged performance in a theatre, and is often very relatable for the audience.

What I have learnt from this reading and this module so far is that performance doesn't always have to make sense to be accepted. It reminds me of the work I saw on the Severn project by desperate men which was performed outdoors in a local community. The video showed a large crowd of people interacting with a giant fish which was being used as a prop. Would this be logical in every day life? No. However, the audience accepted the performance and participated willingly, thus uniting a community.